First there was suspected cancer-causing matter in marine products, then they found lead in Chinese gimchi, and now parasites have been found in Chinese gimchi. How can there be parasite-infested gimchi circulating on the market in this day and age? Questions about how harmful that gimchi is to the human body aside, how are you supposed to be able to buy food while feeling so uncertain about it?
Upon discovering the parasites the authorities immediately ordered the product destroyed, and they have decided to seek the registration and certification of Chinese gimchi factories. The customs inspection process will be made more intensive. That, however, will not be enough to ease the concerns of consumers, all the more so because the authorities did not take a clear stance on the safety of Chinese gimchi after lead was found in it. It has been more than just a couple of occasions when they talked a lot about the measures they were going to take after problems were found only to have things return to normal once they quieted down again.
It is time to completely revamp the country's food safety standards. The standards should all be reviewed, but the standards for main foods like gimchi should be made far more strict and concrete. Overseas trends in food safety should be thoroughly reviewed, and based on that they should develop concrete standards even for substances that have yet to be discovered in Korea. There also needs to be more inspectors at the Korea Food and Drug Administration.
Also of essential importance will be stronger penalties. The country will not be able to stop the circulation of food products of bad quality if people are not punished strongly enough, even if there are strict standards and thorough inspection procedures. There need to be strict measures such as prohibiting people who have repeatedly imported or sold harmful food products from operating in the food industry. Unless people come to believe that they will be ruined if they play with food it will be hard to prevent future cases such as the Chinese gimchi affair. The government needs to make sure the people feel safe about at least what they eat.
The Hankyoreh, 24 October 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Time to Re-Evaluate Food Safety Measures |
